


he pushed me out of the way.

by orphan_account



Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Albert gets taken to the refuge, Hurt Albert, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Racetrack Higgins/Albert DaSilva - Freeform, The aftermath of the strike, albert dasilva - Freeform, hotshot makes an appearance, im terrible at tagging, racetrack higgins - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:07:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24122602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: what would've happened if albert got taken to the refuge instead of crutchie?
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	he pushed me out of the way.

**Author's Note:**

> okay so 
> 
> 1\. I'm bad at tagging  
> 2\. this is very cute imo and i'm very proud of it so if you like it, comment or something :)  
> 3\. my twitter is ladyprsephone if anyone wants it

No. No. No. 

He had turned away for two seconds, just to go help Romeo. He left his side for two seconds, just to go make sure his little brother was okay. He had taken his eyes off Albert for two seconds, and in this two seconds he was gone. He hadn’t even heard him scream. All he could focus on was Romeo, who was writhing around on the ground in front of him, clutching his side, calling out for Specs in the smallest voice Race had ever heard. The Bulls were long gone by now, leaving the raggamuffin teens to fix what they had just broken. All this to say, his brothers were safe and somewhat okay, the love of his life however, was not. 

***

The lodging house was in turmoil: Jack was trying to assemble the leaders for a meeting to talk about what happened, Buttons and Jojo were trying to calm down the little ones, Specs, Mush, and Blink were tending to the more serious wounds, but Race, Race was quiet. He had heard Jack call his name, shouting at him to come and join him with Katherine and Davey, but he couldn’t move. He felt like he was paralyzed. After he had ran to Romeo’s side, he picked up the smaller boy and carried him back to the lodging house, Specs immediately mothering him after Race laid him down on the couch. Everyone was so busy that they didn’t even realize one of their own was missing. It’s not like Albert was one to stay out and think, he’s not like Race. He’s calm, and caring, and quiet. If he was in the lodging house right now he would be running around trying to make sure everyone was okay. But he wasn’t there right now, he was in the Refuge. The one place Race swore he would never let him go. But alas, he was there. Alone. And all anyone could talk about was how scary that was, and all Jack could do was shout at Race for not listening to him. 

“Race. Racetrack. Antonio!” 

“What! What the Hell could you possibly want?”

“First of all, don’t talk to me like that. I know you’re angry that we got attacked but-”

“You think that’s why I’m angry? Really, Jack? Well you’re wrong. That’s not why. The reason I’m angry is because the love of my life was just beaten and taken in front of me and all you can focus on is us getting right back out there tomorrow!” 

Race’s outburst caught the attention of everyone in the common room. You could hear a pin drop, the only noise coming from the New York City sounds coming in through the open window. The silence was short-lived, soon being replaced by a low murmur of questions, whispers about who Race was talking about and what he meant by ‘love of my life.’ Jack seemed to be the only who understood after quickly surveying the room. 

“Albert’s gone.”

“Yeah, he is. I turned away to help Romeo and the next thing I knew, his hand wasn’t locked with mine anymore. They took him, Jack,” his voice began to break, his next words were spoken through sobs, “they took him to the Refuge.”

Jack briskly walked towards Race, hesitating before pulling him into a hug, letting him sob into his shoulder. 

“J-Jack, I can’t leave him there,” he sniffles, “please, please let me go get him.” Race felt like he couldn’t breathe. He felt like his whole world was crashing down around him. No, his whole world was taken from him. Taken from him and thrown into a dark room of the Refuge, scared, hurt, and alone. 

“You know I can’t let you do that. I can’t risk another one of us getting hurt, Racetrack.” 

A voice spoke up from the couch, “I’m sorry Race, this is all my fault.” It was Romeo. 

Race picked up his head from its perch in the crook of Jack’s neck, and his eyes widened at the realization that Romeo was the one who had spoken. He pulled himself away from Jack and all but ran over to where his brother was laying. Specs, who had been cleaning the cuts and wrapping the gash on his side, stopped his work for a moment, deeming whatever Race had to say more important. 

“No, no. It’s not. It’s not your fault that the cops went after the smallest kid they saw. This is not your fault, Romeo. You hear me? It’s not.” Race leaned forward, hugging Romeo, which elicited a whimper of pain from the younger kid. The sound caused Specs to lurch forward, looking for any sign of other serious injury. Romeo put his hand up, gesturing that he was okay. 

The next person to speak up was Crutchie. He had somehow released himself from the tight grip of Finch, who was holding a wet towel to the scrape on his forehead. How the Hell had he gotten a pavement scrape on his head? 

“Race? Can we talk? Please.” 

“Um, y-yeah. Sure.” 

Crutchie nodded his head in the direction of the fire escape, leading his friend. He seemed off, but Race didn’t question him yet. He knew he had something to say, so he decided staying silent was a better idea. Once they had gotten out of the curious newsie’s earshot, Crutchie looked at Race, tears forming in his eyes. 

“Albert pushed me out of the way.” 

Race’s breath hitched at the mention of his name, but then his facial expression turned to confusion. “What?”

“I was standing on the other side of Newsies Square and someone tried to grab me and I tried to get away on my own, but before I knew it, Albert was running towards me and then I was on the ground. I didn’t know he wasn’t with us. Finch pulled me into an alley right after I fell, I thought he had run back to you. I thought he was with you when things finally had settled. When I didn’t see him back at the lodging house, I thought he had taken a walk with you to calm down, but then you walked in with Jack. I’m sorry, Racer. I’m so fucking sorry. We’re supposed to protect each other, we’re supposed to make sure no more of us have to get taken there and go through that. I failed you, and I failed Albert.”

“God, Crutch, no. Listen, he may have gotten taken, but it wasn’t your fault, he’s the one who decided to play hero and push you out of the way. I think I know how I can fix this, but I’m gonna need your help.”

“Anything.”

“Okay, good,” Race tilted his head to look inside at the clock, it was almost midnight. “I’m gonna go get him tonight. I refuse to leave him there overnight. Jack isn’t going to let me walk there at midnight alone, you and I both know that, so distract him for me. I should be back by morning, if I’m not, tell Jack. If he gets mad, I’ll take the blame. Have him send someone to Brooklyn to check if Albert and I are with Spot, I’m gonna take him there if there’s any reason that we can’t get back here tonight. If not, well, you know what happened to us. Can you do that?”

“Can I do that? I figured you’d give me a harder job!” 

Race laughs quietly, it was the first time he had smiled all night. “Thanks, Crutchie. Love you.” 

“Love you too, now go save your damsel in distress, I’ll be here when you get back.” 

***

Race got to the Refuge as fast as he possibly could. It was all the way across Manhattan, but that was nothing to Race, he’s walked across the city every day for the past ten years of his life. The real challenge was getting to Albert. The door was locked and guarded at all hours, so there was no way he could just walk in. His best option would be going up through the back fire escape. 

“Please God, let Al be here” Race muttered under his breath, ‘here’ being in one of the easier to access rooms. If he wasn’t, this would be a hell of a lot harder than Race had expected. 

He crept through the alleyways behind the stone building, being careful as to not make too much noise and alert anyone to his presence. When he reached the fire escape, it took everything in him not to dash up the stairs, not caring about the noise he was making, but he knew that wouldn’t do anyone any good. All he had to do was get through the next few minutes without getting caught, then he could take Albert back home and everything would be fine. Everything would be fine. 

Upon reaching the window, he could see six sleeping bodies spread out around the room, one of which was directly underneath it. Race lightly knocked, waking the boy beneath the window, making him to sit up in terror.

“Hey, hey. It’s okay. My name is Ra-” he stopped himself, recognizing the half-conscious face staring back at him. He was a Brooklyn boy, he didn’t know the kids name, but he had seen him before hanging around the races. 

“Yeah, I know who you are. I think I can also guess why you’re here, DaSilva. Right?”

Race hesitated before responding, of course this kid knew why he was here. With the amount of times Race had dragged Albert out to Sheepshead Bay with Spot and the rest of the Brooklyn Newsies he was bound to recognize him. He finally said, “yes, please tell me he’s in here.” 

“He is. I’ll get him, tell him you’re here, if you do something for me.”

“Yes, um, what. What do you need?” 

“I need you to go to Brooklyn tomorrow, tell Spot I'm here. The last time I saw them all I didn’t exactly leave on good terms, but I know that if they know where I am they’ll pull a little rescue mission like you’re doing right now. Just, please.”

“Of course I will,” Race’s sentence trailed off, still not knowing the boy’s name. 

“Hotshot, name’s Hotshot.”

“Of course I will, Hotshot. Do you want to come with us right now? I’m sure ‘Hattan’s got room for one extra tonight.”

“No, that’s okay. I’ve got a few little kids that I’ve been protecting here and I’d rather die in here than leave without them. Thank you though, seriously. Let me go grab Albert,” before he turned away, he added one last thing. “Race, you should know, Albert’s hurt, pretty bad. I recognized him when he came in so I tried to help him, but he wasn’t very cooperative. He didn’t want anyone to touch him, and he kept asking for you. His ankle is screwed up and he has a bruise on the side of his eye, just, be careful walking back.” 

Race’s breath hitched and his face fell, he wanted so badly to cry, but he stopped himself. He couldn’t look weak in front of a Brooklyn boy, especially with Jack getting ready to leave Manhattan to him. So, he opted for a simple, “okay” in response. 

Race watched as his new friend slowly rose to his feet, the rusted springs of the tattered refuge bed squeaking as he got up. He reached into his pillow case, finding a pack of matches and using one to light one of the deformed candles that sat on the windowsill. As he finally began to cross the room to where Albert was, Race took a breath. It finally had hit him that Albert was here, that Albert was okay. Although he hadn’t successfully saved him yet, he was there. He was there, and he was going to get Albert back. 

Hotshot knelt silently next to the bed where Albert was sleeping, placing the burning candle on one of the bedposts. Race, who had barely been paying attention, noticed something that only he would find interesting. It’s common for people to carve things in the walls and on the steel bed frames, but when Hotshot had placed the candle down, it had illuminated a carving. A small ‘AH’ was written in bold on the front post of Albert’s bed. Albert was sleeping in the bed that Race had stayed in for months. Albert was sleeping in a bed in a place that Race was supposed to protect him from. Tears started to form in his eyes, but they vanished as fast as they had appeared when he heard small whispers coming from Albert’s direction. He removed his focus from the carving, fixing his gaze on the boy that was currently running towards him, against the whisper-yell commands of Hotshot. 

Albert climbed onto the bed at the window, never breaking eye contact with Race. “Tonio?”

“Yeah, Albie, it’s me.” 

“You came and got me! I’m sorry I ran away during the strike. I just wanted to go and help Crutchie, I didn’t think I’d get caught. The Bull just came out of nowhere. I’m sorry, Antonio.” He rambled. 

“It’s okay. I’m sorry I didn’t protect you, I should’ve known you would have gone all hero on me.” 

Hotshot spoke up, “I hate to break up this little reunion, but you guys need to get out of here. The sun is going to be rising soon and if you guys get caught then so will I. I can't risk getting in trouble again.” 

Albert began to try and get out onto the fire escape, but he was visibly struggling. Race reached for Albert’s hip, attempting to pull him out of the window. When his hand reached his skin, Albert yelped, quickly throwing his hand over his mouth to muffle any sound. 

“Okay, you’re okay. Come on, darling, you can do it. I know it’s hard with your ankle, do you want me to touch you? If not, it’s okay, I’ll be right here.” 

Albert was afraid to respond verbally, fearing someone would hear him. Instead, he just reached for his lover’s hand, silently, telling Race everything he needed to know. Albert maneuvered his non-injured leg out of the windowsill, finding his balance while also leaning his weight on Race. Once he had gotten out, he set his other foot down, wincing at the pressure. Race looked at him with comforting eyes, making sure he was okay before turning to look at Hotshot. 

“Thank you, so damn much. I promise you I’ll be in Brooklyn in a few hours to tell Spot everything. You’ll be out of here soon. Again, thank you.” 

“‘Course. Anything for an honorary Brewsie.” 

Race gave Hotshot one last smile before tightly wrapping his arm around Albert’s waist, doing his best to avoid any bruises.

“Can you make it down the fire escape for me? Once we’re down I can carry you back home, it’s dark, no one will see us.” Albert looked hesitant, scared even. Race continued, “come on baby, I know you can do it. We can make it.” 

It was a painful journey back to the lodging house, Albert having to stop every once in a while to catch his breath and dull the pain. But they did it, they made it back without anyone seeing them, or Snyder catching them. 

They were standing on the front steps of the lodging house, and for the first time since they parted ways with Hotshot, Albert spoke. “R-racer?”

Race whipped his head to the side, immediately panicking, assuming Albert was in pain, “Yes? What’s wrong? What do you need?” 

“Nothing! Nothing, I’m okay. I just,” he went quiet. 

Race put his finger under Albert’s chin, tipping it up, forcing him to look at him. “Tell me, sweetheart.”

“I want to tell them,” Albert forced out. 

Race chuckled, quickly saying “they already know. I kind of, snapped at Jack and called you the love of my life, in front of everyone. Sorry.”

Albert’s eyes lit up, “I’m the love of your life?”

“Yeah, you are. I’ve known since the day we met. Besides, I wouldn’t walk all the way across town in the middle of the night to save anyone, now would I?”

“I guess not.”

Race and Albert laughed, Albert leaning in and putting his head on the other boy’s chest. Race wrapped his arms around him, pulling him as close as he could, not wanting to ever let him go. He would never let Albert step foot in that place again for as long as he lived, and even after. A warm feeling began to take over the two, whether it was the rising New York sun, or pure happiness, they couldn’t tell. They didn’t care. All that mattered was that they were together, that they were safe. 

Oh, and that Specs had seen them from his window and was currently racing down the front steps, carrying every piece of medical supplies they had left to tend to the wounds on Albert. 

Maybe the chaos of the lodging house wasn’t so bad, it was their home after all.


End file.
